On the way, the elder said:

"It looks to me as if you have a clear title to the _Water Witch_. What
do you wish to do with it?"

"Sell it to someone so I shall never see it again."

"If you will turn the boat over to me I think I can dispose of it for
you. Have you any price in mind?"

"Sell the launch for whatever you can get, if it isn't more than
twenty-three cents."

"All right; I'll fix it. Here is the railway office. You have enough
funds?"

"Plenty. I shall a buy a through ticket to--_home_."

"Of course. I shall call upon you this autumn. Good-by, Horace."

"Good-by to one of the best friends I ever had. God bless you!"

CHAPTER XXXI

GATHERING UP THE RAVELLED THREADS

The records show that not long ago there were a number of post office
robberies among the towns and villages in that section of Maine to which
some attention has been given in the preceding pages. Not all the guilty
parties were captured, but we know of two, or rather three, who were
caught in the toils. Two of them, Kit Woodford and Graff Miller, were
convicted in the United States Court at Portland, for, to use a common
expression, they were caught with the goods on them, and sentenced to
long terms in the Atlanta penitentiary. There they are sure to stay for
an indefinite time to come, provided they are not soon released on
parole, or pardoned on the ground of poor health. Let us hope for better
things.

During the trial of the criminals inquiries were heard for the third
member of the gang, but he seemed to have vanished as completely as if
the earth had opened and swallowed him. Possibly the Judge learned all
the facts from Detective Calvert and saw that justice would be best
served by winking at the youth's offence. Moreover, an officer of the law
cannot be punished for the escape of a prisoner unless gross carelessness
or collusion is proved, which was not easy in the case named. Be that as
it may, Orestes Noxon no longer exists. In his place rises another young
man, "redeemed and disenthralled"--a brand plucked from the burning. The
grandest work of our penal institution is that of reforming instead of
wreaking revenge upon the erring ones. It certainly proved so in the
instance named. The parents of the youth knew he had strayed from the
narrow path, but it will be a long time before they learn how far his
wayward footsteps led him. There is no need of their ever knowing the
painful truth. Detective Calvert simply